Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-06-17

ANXIOUS to sell to get his HIGH licanss foo
PACK, and the charge will not deter even
me worst dram drinker, who would nawn
his wlfes Bible for drink. p'"D
but the hlgh-license fee will bribe tho
puphc to perpetuate the traffic under the
nlselaoly mistaken idea that the State can
make money out of the liquor traffic. Men
VIII be deceived into the idea. LOOKING to
only one side of the account, that it ia y
source OF revenue. Further, my friends, it
will make gilded and Respectable" palaces
OF temptations for young men, This very
talk about it by temperance and respecta.
ole men, who ought to know better: this
advocacy OF it by fathers in the presence
OF thelr sons, as though it We're a good
thlng' ana even temperance measure. will
have the inevitable effect to make youno
men think that they can 90 with imnnn;tE
into high" license saloon, when perbanss
they would never think of going to a saloon
at all under other circumstances.
My second great objection to the license
system is that it holds out no hope of i'm
provement or end Of the traffic. So long
as the law sanctions, men will be found to
sell as long as men can be found to drink
and pay.
In my Judgment there is but one rem
edy for the evils Of intemperance in our
iand-the universal and complete prohi-
bltlon and humiliation of the LIQUOR
traffic: l need not tell you that this great
remedy is lawful and constitutional. All
our great lawyers and jurists agree-all our
courts, from the highest to the lowest in
the land, hold that, under the great police
power lodged in state or government,
the state may lawfully lay its heavy hand
upon the liquor traffic to stay its evils, or
wipe it out altogether.
Prohibition is the natural, the legitimate,
the sensible way of dealing with the ques-
ton. This liquor business don't want put
with any longer. 1t wants to be stopped.
tell you, my friends, that this way of
dealing with the question-this utter pro-
hlbition and extinction of the traffic-is the
Anglo Saxon way, way that sturdy race
has always had in dealing with great pub
lie wrongs. It's way born in the very
gristle and marrow of the race. You may
see it all along the track of history for a
thousand Years. Seven hundred years
England, those sturdy old barons took
that graceless and Infamous King of theirs
out into the mede, and told him he must
stop his tyranny and his lawlessness or they
, would hurl him from his throne. And the
craven John submitted, and signed the
great charter-Magm Charta-which is
now the mighty bulwark of civil liberty in
England and America. Come down that
stream of English history to the struggle
between the Parliament and the people of
England and the tyrannical kings of the
house of Stuart. Hampden and Cromwell,
and those other mighty Englishmen Of that
day, said to their treacherous King, who
pleaded his divine right to tyrannize over
England, that he must stop his expressions
and his tyranny, and when he refused, and
drew the sword and plunged the nation into
war. they fought him and took him pris-
oner, tried and condemned him to death,
and his royal head rolled from the block in
obedience to the stern decree OF
, that great Puritan race. If we turn
i to our own history we shall see oul
: ministers across the sea. 'You must STOP
/ this oppression-this taxation without rep.
. resentation-or we'll stop it for YOU" And
/ when the King and ministers refused, they
n rose in rebellion, threw the tea overheard
= in Boston harbor, declared their independ
4 ence at Philadelphia, and under that i'm
:. mortal leader whose marble statue crowns
your city, whose majestic face and figure
have seen looking down upon YOU from tn
q serene blue heavens of this beautiful
q spring day, they fought seven years to la,
i the foundations of liberty and free govern
r ment in this land. And still true to these
- great examples, and this great history O
v the race, the men of our time found Wa.
y this same old way of prohibition-t'
y stop slavery in its career-to kill it an'
Y save the republic.
% But up pops mora coward and says
d "You can't enforce prohibition. Who say
j. you can't enforce law in this country
" Can't enforce the law? What rumseller il
If Baltimore is going to head rebellion
# against State and Union alike? Why
- ~, Y~,t0 with nJfr1
1 millions of gallant men, once undertook t
is say that law should not be enforced, tina
j. the majority should not rule in this coun
i try, and even they failed.
II Somebody else cries out: "Prohibitio
,e don't prohibit" Who says it don't? Why
al some whisky letter writer, some irrespon
1t sible scribbler, or rowing reporter, or gen
eral fault-fnder in the interest OF whisky
10 Who knows best? Such as these or tn
u Governors or officials of Prohibition States
j. the responsible men on the ground?
Or "Oh," says another, sit violates persona
c. liberty" Now, what do you mean by that
at If you mean the degree of civil liberty en-
M joyed by free American citizen, white {
"a black, / answer that that, according
,e Blackstone, is his natural liberty so ia
r. restrained as may be necessary for tn
,e good of society. And the good of societ
Q, requires that he should not be permitted
l. sell poison for drink. That IS the HDert
IS of an American citizen in this great RepuE
It lie of ours. 1t may not be the kind {
', liberty that Fiji Islander or Digger II
r dian enjoys. but it does very we'll for u
y. and we shall have to stand it, rumselle1
I'd and all.
20 Sunptuury laws." There is nothin
1e "sumptuary in Prohibition. 1t does n
+" pretend to interfere with the amount
r. expenses in the citizens household, b.
l. only says he shall not sell alcoholic poiso
Of to kill his neighbors and destroy society.
ar But the last great objection is, that thes
es miserable Prohibitionists are, "meddlir
a with other peoples business" A mob
es ship is in mid ocean, sailing grandly ov'
lie the waves, her sails all set, her officers AZ
er crew all on duty and watch, and her pal
er sengers happy and secure-al on the upp'
We deck, enjoying the wide and boundle
in prospect of wave and sky. Suddenly tn
Nv startling cry is sounded. "There are me
nd down in the hold boring holes through II
~ NJ ships bottom" In an instant officers al
nd crew and passengers rush down the way